An alarming 3.3 lac tonnes of e-waste is generated annually, and an additional 50,000 tonnes is illegally imported into India, reveals a study conducted by the Manufacturers' Association for Information Technology (MAIT).

And that's not it. The volume of e-waste generated is expected to hit 4.7 lakh tonnes by 2011, estimates the apex body representing India's IT hardware, training, and R&D sectors.

What's even more alarming is that out of all this e-waste, only 19,000 tonnes is recycled, due to high refurbishment and reuse of electronics products, and due to poor recycling infrastructure.

Currently e-waste recycling, especially processing, remains concentrated in the informal sector, which, due to poor processing technologies and very small capacities, ends up contributing significantly to pollution and environmental degradation.

As per the "Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment" (WEEE) directive of the European Commission, e-waste is defined as "waste material consisting of broken or unwanted electrical or electronic appliances".

A significant growth in consumption of electronics items in the last few years, accompanied by a very high rate of obsolescence, has led to the increasing generation of e-waste in the country.

Most used electronic products are either put to use for less resource-intensive applications, or given away to relatives/friends for further use. Due to lack of proper collection systems, households and institutions more often than not end up storing these products in their warehouses/storerooms.

Even when obsolete products are sold or exchanged, they are refurbished and resold. Only a small proportion of obsolete electronics products actually makes its way to the e-waste processing stream.

Vinnie Mehta, executive director of MAIT, said that as the first principle of recycling is reuse, it is essential that the electronics industry encourage reuse of obsolete electronics items by suitably refurbishing them, and providing necessary service support.

Mehta stressed that institutional users must mandatorily put in place a policy on e-waste management, and on disposal of obsolete electronic equipment.

More:
Bangalore Becoming e-waste Hub?